Steel plant



No. 872,046. PATENTED NOV. 26, 1907. T. s. BLAIR, JR. STEEL PLANT.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZO, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ZiLOOOOOO-QIOOOOOO OOOOOCJ-iIJ-OOOOOO' Z PATENTED NOV. 26, 1907.

T. S. BLAIR, JR. STEEL PLANT.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 20. 1007.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THOMAS S. BLAIR, JR, OF ELMIIURST, ILLINOIS STE E L 2-ANT Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented, Nov. .26, 1.907

Application filed Jul v- 20.1907 Serial No. 384.730.

T 0 all 2.1,720'7/1- it may concern:

Be it known that l, Tumus BLAIR, Jr.. a citizen 01' ha l'nited States,residing at. lln'ihurst, in l he county of [)upage and State oflllinois, have invented a new and usel'ul improvement in Steel Plants,e! which the ollmvin e' is a Specification.

i" This invention relates to an improvement in the so-called duplexplant, which consists, generally stated, of a combined Resseiner plantand open-lurm'lh plantv This type of plant has been adopted oner theBessemer method, as employed by itsell, which developed on the lines oflarge tonnagev because the quality of the steel produced by the lat eris not equal to the demands upon rails mad ol' the steel by the modernheavy type of locomotive; and it has been adopted over the -openhcarthmethod, as employed by itself, in which the quality of the steelproduced is considered rather than the tonnage, because it necessitatestor a plant on a scale commensurate with the requirements of therail-mill supplied lromit, one that is cumbersome and unwieldy and whichrenders the cost ol production ol rail-steel much greater than the costthereol by the Bessemer method.

The more important advantages, over either the Bessemer or theopen-hearth method, of the existing duplex plant are that it enables ablast-turnace to be run to suit the mineral conditions that areencountered, without regard to the succeeding steps in the operation,whereas in the Bessemer method, the blast-furnace must be so operated asto produce pig iron which will produce steel not over 0.10 per cent. inphosphorus and sulfur, and in the open-hearth n'iethod, not" over 1.00per cent. in silicon; that it enables the Bessemer element of the plantto be operated to the best advantage because ithas only to blow down.the silicon and part of the carbon, and does not have to contend withthe phosphorus or sullur, nor with the finishing of the steel; that theopen-hearth-furnace element of the plant is thus permitted to operateunder the most favorable conditions, because of the removal by theBessemer converter, from the metal before it introduced into theopen-hearth, of the silicon and thus of the cause of all the difficultyin the basic opon-hearth, and of the preparation for the open-hcarth ofthe metal to the desired carhon point and its intrmluction th r' not ofthese furnaces away from them (all 15. very high temperature.

The principal objections to a, duplex plant,"

as hitherto constructed, are the zi' at cost ol' installation and theunocono nieal manner in which it is required to be operated because ofthe construction.

The primary purpose of my invention is to avoid these objections; and toshow the ox-- tent and nature of the inn orement. in this behalf whichmy invcntior accomplishes, the comparison may best be .Il'ltttlU(neglecting the Bessemer method, because the question of quality isdriving it out of use) with an open-hearth plant of usual constructionhaying a daily capacity of, say, three thtiiusand tons of ingots. Suchplant costs to install, in round numbers, about live million dollars,while a du lex plant oi" the same capacity, constructc in accordancewith my invention, will cost about one and one-half mil ion dollars; andthe operating cost, computod'on the same basis in each method, will beabout one dollar and seventy cents per ton of in go ts in my improvedduplex plant, as against three dollars and liftoen cents per ton in theopen-hearth. These and other advantages are due to the improved means Ihave dovised [or enabling the handling of the blown metal from thellcssemer converters to the open-hearth furnaces, and of the cast prod--to the rolling-mills, in a manner to permit each -unit consisting of afurnace and its at,"-

plianeos to work to its own lull capacity, by working it quiteindependently of, and with out interfering with, any other unit.

In the. existing duplex plant the supply of blown metal is brought fromthe converters to the row of open-hearth furnaces on traclas runninglongitudinally of the furnaces along: their front side, whereby thedelivery at material to any one furnace in the row, the first,inevitably interrupts, and th interferes with the operation of all theother furnaces.

n'actiec, each furnace makes only about two heats per day, thisinterruption is not so serious a factor; but to enable a duplex plant tobe run to its full ca )aci y o'l about eight heats be de furnace beoperated withou interrm from the delivery of the material to ivercd toeach furnace and that the :tion

here, in the regular o'peinhearth per day requires t rat the materialshall any other unit.

ely the same conditions apply to the Precns pit, so-called, or side of,the shop back of the furnaces, where the steel from them is poured intoingot-molds on cars to be transported on the latter to therollingrnills. An example of this is the ordinary open-hearth plant, oftwelve furnaces in a row twelve hundred feet long, which can handleabout sixteen to eighteen hundred tons of ingots per 'wliile fourfurnaces, in one duplex plant, are capable of producing daily aboutthree thousand. tens or ingots, required to be handled within a spaceonly one-third that lengt or four hundred feet, which, however, raiderthe present system, is but suilicient for: handling about one-fifth thatamount of product.- My improvement in this behalf, which involvesrunning the ingotdelivery tracks in lateral direction from the furnaces,avoids hindrance, from the opera ticn of any furnace in the row, tothe'operation of the other furnaces, and permits the handling ofanytonnage of roduct which the hirnaces are capable o' turning out. Thusrunning the metal-supply and ingotdelivery tracks respectively to andfrom the furnaces enables the du lex system of plant to be operated itsin l capacity and with the utmost economy.

-Pteierrmg to the accompanying drawings n igure 1 is plan view, in thenature of a diagram, cf a duplex steel-plant involving my improveme ts,and Fig. 2 is an end viewoi the same.

The molten metal is brought in ladies from blast-furnaces (not shown) onan elevated track 3 to ordinary mixers, indicated at 4, whence it isdelivered, as required, in ladies as usual, to Bessemer converters,indicated at 5, wherein it is (lesilicized and decarbu rized, by thecustomary procedure, to the de: sired carbon content. The converters arelaced in elevated position with relation to adles on cars upon the track6 and branches or leads 7 and 8 therefrom on ap roximately a level withthe usual charging petform 9 oi' the row of open-hearth furnaces 10', topermit the converters to be conveniently emptied into these ladles.After the metal has been blown in the converters, it is poured from theminto the ladies, indicated at 11, on cars (not shown) movable on thetracks 6, 7 and 8, and delivered to the open-hearth furnaces to berefined, by dephosphorizing and desulfurizing it and bringing it to thedesired carbon and manganese contents, by the usual procedure in theopen-hearth practice. The track 6, with winch the branches 7 and 8connect byswitches, indicated at 12 and' 13,

my pending application, Serial Number 382,487 filed on the 6th day ofJuly, 1907.

The novelty in the system thus far explained lies in placing theconverters at a level su fliciently high to adapt them to deliver theblown metal to the ladles at approximately the level of thecharging-platform, which is desirable for the sake of economy in.handling the metal.

Similar branchtracks 14 have switch-connections, indicated at 15, withthe track 6, each branch-track leading across the charginglatform 9 andthus laterally to a diflerent irnace, or furnace-section as indicated.This construction in the plant enables the cars carrying the ladles fromthe converters to be switched laterally, to approach the furnaces in thedirection transverse of the line thereof, for charging them with theladle-- contents, whereby the route to each furnace is renderedindependent of that to any other furnace in therow, so that a supply-carmay be directed toany one without its interfering with, or interrupting,the operation of any of the others; thus enabling each furnace to beWorked up to its full capacity by rendering the'operation of each unitabsolutely inde pendent of every other unit.-

L N hen the metal has been refined and 1511 ished in the open-hearthfurnaces, it is tapped into ladles, in the usual manner, to be poureddred to eighteen hundred tons of ingots per day. My improvement in thisbehalf consists in providing ouring platforms 16 to extend, coincident ywith the spaces between furnaces l0, transversely of the pit, withbrahcbtraclrs, or turn-outs, 17, for the mold-carrying cars, leadingfrom-the pouring-platforms to a track 18 extending length wise of andarallel with the rear or pit side of' the row ol -lurnaces, theturn-outs connecting with the'track by switches, indicated at 19; I Bythus providing the pouring-platforms and tracks 17 the product of eachfurnace may be handled Without regard to the work'of' any other furnace,thus enabling 1111-, hampered disposition to be made of the produet ofall the furnaces, however great it may be. 'lhe eat advantage of this imrovementmay' est be explained by the fol owing is capable of disposingof about eighteen hundred tons per ay, while a pit for four furnaces,one-third that length; is capable of disposing of about six hundred tonsper day; but fourfurnaces in one duplex-system, as aforesaid, arecapable of producing about three thousand tons per day. Therefore thegreat advantage of the duplex plant is lost, without my improvement,which enables easy disposition of this three thousand tons, or more,daily product of the four furnaces.

It may be suggested that the switches 15,

19 should be spring-switches of any suitable I type, so that thethrough-tracks 6 and 18 shall beclosed automatically, and when it isdesired to enter one of the turn-outs at a switch, the latter may beclosed and held closed against the spring until the locomotive and itstrain have passed into the turn-out; and coming out of a turn-out theswitch acts automatically to allow the train to enter the through-trackand to close when, the trail has cleared it.

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1-. In a duplex steel-plant, the combination with the Bessemerconvertersand the row of open-hearth furnaces, of a track for ladle-carrying carsextending lengthwise along the front*side of said row with leads to itfronrthe. converters; and turn-outs having switch-connections with saidtrack and leading laterally therefrom to extend transversely of thecharging-platform to the different furnaces, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a duplex steel-plant, the combination with the row of openhearthfurnaces, of Bessemer-converters disposed at a level sufficiently highto adapt them to deliver the blown metal to ladles at or near the levelof the charging-platform, a track for the ladlecarrying cars extendingalong the front side of said row with leads from it to the convert ers,and turn-outs leading laterally from said track to extend across thecharging-platform to the different furnaces, for the purpose set forth.

Ina duplex steel-plant, the combination with the row of open-hearthfurnaces, of a pit at the rear side of said row, a track extendinglengthwise along said side, pouring platforms extending across said it,and turn-outs extending from said platforms to said track, for thepurpose set forth.

4. In a duplex steel-plant, thecombination with the row of open-hearthfurnaces, of a pit at the rear side of said row, a track extendinglengthwise along said side, pouring; platforms extending across saidpit, and turn-outs extending from said platforms to and havingswitch-connections with said track, for the purpose set forth.

5. In a duplex steel-plant, the combination with the Bessemer-convertersand the row of open-hearth furnaces, of a track for the ladle-carryingcars extending lengthwise along the front side of said row, with leadsto it from the converters, turnouts leading laterally from said track tothe different furnaces across the charging-platform, a pit at the rearside of said row, pouring-platforms extending across said pit, andturn-outs extending from said platforms to said rear track, for thepurpose set forth.

6. In a duplex steel-plant, the combination with the row of open-hearthfurnaces, ofBessemer-converters disposed at a level sufficiently high toadapt them to deliver the blown metal to ladlcs at or near the level ofthe charging-platform, a track for the ladlecarrying cars extendingalong the front side of said row with leads from it to the converters,rn-outs leading laterally from said track. to extend across thecharging-platf0r1r to the different furnaces, a pit at the rear side ofsaid row, pouring-platforms extending across said pit; and turn-outs extending from said platforms to said rear track, for the purpose setforth.

THOMAS S. BLAIR, JR.

In presence of WM. NIELLWAR-D, R. 'I. HARRIS.

